The Bone Shard Daughter was one of my top books of the year it came out - for me, The Bone Shard Emperor suffers a little from second book syndrome. Gone is the mystery of who Lin is and the deeply oppressive, fantastically tense atmosphere of the palace. Gone is adorable baby Mephi, and the questions around who's on Sand's island and how that ties into everything. This is a book of aftermath, of picking up the pieces and trying to rebuild the world once the questions are answered, and while that is a brilliant concept and one that's executed well, it struggles to live up to the more fantastical, mysterious elements of book one. It almost feels like a different genre entirely. Add to that a romance I didn't care for, and the continued apathy I feel for Ranami and Phalue's chapters, and unfortunately this pales in comparison. This happens a lot with trilogies, though, and I'm hopeful that book three will bring it all home beautifully!

This book suffers from a bit of the sequel syndrome and wasn't as good as the first one. Yet, it was a very interesting read and kept me hooked. I will definitely be reading the conclusion.

Fantastic - I loved the other books in the series and this one did not disappoint. Andrea is a fantastic, fantastic author and deserves all the praise she gets.

I enjoyed the Bone Shard's Daughter - I thought it was an imaginative read with a lot of promise that unfortunately suffered from some pacing issues and two many main characters. And while Bone Shard Emperor doesn't suffer from second book syndrome, I still struggled with the pacing. The plot is really slow, with lots and lots of exposition and world building without any furthering of the plot. I also found that, again, there were too many characters for me to really get invested in one storyline. Lin especially, who is such a central figure to the plot, just doesn't shine through enough to carry the meandering plot. I just didn't care. Mephi is also really under utilised, as this mysterious and adorable side characters pushed to the side to instead develop a romance between Lin and Jovis that I found quite stilted.

Interesting magic system and world, but the pacing and plot really needed an injection of action a lot earlier on to keep me interested.

I finally got around to book two of this beautiful series - and I want to kick myself for not getting to it sooner.

I loved returning to this incredible world with such a unique magic system. I just want to stay there and learn more and more. So glad I have book 3 ready to go.

Having the characters of book one finally meet and interact and ... maybe more ;) ... had me hooked. What an amazing sequel.

Unfortunately I did not manage to finish the prior book so I will not be readong this book.

Many thanks for approving my request.

3.5* rounded down

Damn I’m kinda disappointed in this 😭

The first book was in my top 10 of 2020, and I reread it just before starting this one and it was just as good as I remembered.

This one had a lot less intrigue, some characters felt a little useless or unnecessary to the plot (like Phalue and Renami) and I just didn’t buy into the romance unfortunately.

I think this is mainly due to me picturing Jovis as at least 30 whereas Lin is 23? I’m not sure if that’s actually accurate but that’s the vibe I got from book 1 so it jarred me a bit to see a romance blossom.

I think also some of the villain reasonings were a little empty / 2D; the “final battle” I tuned out for mostly as it was pretty boring.

I enjoyed the politics and as always mephi was my favourite character.

Overall i still love the world, the characters and the prose, but the plot in this one was just lacking what the first book had.

Thank you NetGalley for an e-arc of this book. The Bone Shard Daughter (vol 1) is one of my all time favourite books. I love the world and the characters. Volume 1 finished with so many questions and I needed volume 2 immediately.

The second volume didn't disappoint at all. We were back with my favourite characters and an incredible story. I loved the plot in this one a lot. Unfortunately it lost some of the mystery vibes from vol 1, but it was still awesome. I am very curious what will happen in the next volume. I highly recommend this series.

I quite enjoyed book 1, enough to keep on reading the series, but book 2 felt a bit slower and less interesting. I'm not sure I got all the answers I was hoping for, yet I will be continuing the series to see how it all wraps up.

As always I have to thank the publisher and netgalley for the free copy.

If this book seems the natural sequel of the events of The Bone Shard Daughter, with a clear evolution of the characters, it lacked the wonder of the discovery of this new fantasy world that I had in the first book.
Maybe it's because this is an intermediate novel, so we don't have a great amount of actions or discoveries but a more inner development of the characters in their new roles and responsabilities. It's clearly more political focused than the first book.
Praise for the magical system: well described and clear to the reader, something that it's not granted at all!
Can't wait to see what's next!

This sequel novel does exactly what a sequel should - the world is expanded, the threat level is increased and the drip feed of information keeps coming, without giving us too many answers. I enjoyed the character development of both Lin and Jovis and particularly the way in which their relationship moved forward. Knowing more about the Alanga and their powers really keeps the intrigue level high and although much of the novel focuses on the politics and diplomacy necessary to run an empire and forge relationships, there are enough action pieces to keep things compelling throughout. As before however, I just wish we were given more time with some of the other characters as I feel the development given to Lin and Jovis is somewhat lacking for Phalue. That being said, I am so intrigued to see how the story concludes.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I'm loving this series and although I always find middle novels can move the story along this did that but had plenty of action too. Now straight on to the final instalment!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

ARC provided by the publisher—Orbit Books—in exchange for an honest review.

The Bone Shard Emperor is a compelling sequel with a focus on politics and character development.

“Old men always think they know better than everyone else, even when the world has long since changed around them.”


One year and a half since its publication, I finally read The Bone Shard Emperor by Andrea Stewart. The Bone Shard Daughter was my favorite fantasy debut of the year 2020. But despite how much I enjoyed that book, I am ashamed to admit I haven’t read the sequel until now. This is not because I’m not interested in reading the sequel, which is this book. It’s the other way around. I knew I would at least have a good time reading this, and that’s why I waited until the publication date of the third and last book of the trilogy, The Bone Shard War, is near to be released before I tackled this. I even reread The Bone Shard Daughter first in preparation for this read, and I’m not disappointed. This was, undoubtedly, another great book by Andrea Stewart.

“A coward is not a man who feels fear. A coward is one who would volunteer others for suffering he would not take on himself.”


The story in The Bone Shard Emperor starts shortly after what happened at the end of The Bone Shard Daughter. Lin is struggling in the new role that she won at so much cost, the drowning of the empire continues, and a rebel army of constructs is coming. It is imperative for Lin and Jovis to gather an army amid crumbling political alliances to counter this. Unlike the first book in the series, where mystery and identity played a big role in the narrative, the majority of The Bone Shard Emperor revolves around politics, scheming, manipulations, lies, and developing the characters. This isn't to say the mystery is not there anymore, the secrets about the Alanga are still there, but the mystery is not as prevalent as its predecessor. The Bone Shard Emperor dives deep into the meaning of leadership and responsibility. It showcased that toppling a ruler can be relatively easy compared to ruling over an empire. Yes, this kind of story has been done countless times in fantasy books, but I am not complaining when I'm reading a book where it feels like it's done right. The Bone Shard Emperor is another example where it's executed nicely. And I believe this is mostly thanks to the well-developed characters, even if I did not like some of the process they went through.

Still told from five POV characters like in The Bone Shard Daughter, Stewart once again utilizes first-person and third-person narration to tell the story here. The first-person POV narration is used for Lin Sukai and Jovis' POV chapters; the third-person POV narration is used for Nisong, Phalue, and Ranami. Even though they are different styles, I still loved how seamless it felt to read. Out of the five main characters in The Bone Shard Emperor, we have the most story progression in Lin, Jovis, and Nisong's chapters. Do not get me wrong here. I still feel invested in Phalue and Ranami's chapters, but I did not feel they added too much importance to the main story. Not as I expected. That has been the case in the first book, and it's the same again here. Also, I must say I am not a fan of Ranami. It is understandable why she behaved the way she did in the book. And yes, she had a harsh past. But to boil it down to two words, she felt ridiculously self-righteous to me. To make things worse, every time Phalue or someone doesn't follow what she wants, she tantrums like an entitled spoiled brat.

“I’m learning to. What’s the point of having power if we can’t use it to help people? The farmers, the gutter orphans – they’re no different than you or me.”


The same, in a different way, also goes to Jovis. It was hard to read his POV chapters here. His actions in this book were filled with cowardice and lies, and I wanted Mephi to slap him constantly. He was rude and disrespectful. He relentlessly shifted the blame and mistrust he deserved to Lin. And Lin, who is struggling and doing her best to do everything for the empire, is repeatedly put in a worse situation because of his actions. In our world, I think what Jovis is doing, if I'm not mistaken, is gaslighting to the point where he cannot smell his own ass gas. I will say, though, as frustrating as they were to read, it felt like everything was intentional for the character's development. Fortunately, I truly liked where these two characters end up at the end of the book, and I hope they will be more likable in the last book.

“It wasn’t fair that Jovis should have the love and adoration of the Empire’s people, and I had to fight for even a modicum of respect.”


Other than Jovis and Ranami, I don't think I need to add many things to say regarding Lin, Nisong, and Phalue in my review here. Lin has been a constant since The Bone Shard Daughter, so it is not a surprise her POV remains the most engaging one for me here. But I am pleasantly surprised by Nisong. Nisong was a forgettable character in the first book, but I am so interested in reading her storyline in this book. Her chapters played an irreplaceable part in the entire narrative, and I am impressed by how Stewart made me care about her predicament with every chapter. With this intense focus on the character's development and relatively minimal plot progression, I can understand why some readers thought of The Bone Shard Emperor to be inflicted with the middle book syndrome. I still enjoyed it despite its flaws, and I think if you enjoyed reading the story structure in The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson, you might like this one. Now, they are very different from one another, but the story structure in The Bone Shard Emperor reminded me of The Well of Ascension a lot. As I said, most of the book revolves around politics, scheming, and character development, but then, the final 50 pages of the book were a non-stop thrilling action sequence. This last action sequence alone was enough to conclude that The Bone Shard Emperor is more action-oriented than its predecessor. We did not witness this kind of big-scale battle in The Bone Shard Daughter.

“One thing the monks taught me was that history is not a line; it is a spiral. We don’t repeat moments in time, but we come back around, echoing them.”


The Bone Shard Emperor was a great read. All the positives I mentioned aside, I wish the world-building and scope of the series get much bigger here. So in comparison, overall, I liked The Bone Shard Daughter slightly more than The Bone Shard Emperor. I hope the development and events established in this book will become a strong foundation in The Bone Shard War. I look forward to finishing the trilogy very soon.

“When you’re young, you think you can change the world. You think you can bend it to your will. When you’re old, you learn to change your small corner of it and live with the rest.”


You can order this book from: Blackwells (Free International shipping)

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i love andrea stewart for her writing and her worlds. what an enjoyable read!

- thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC.

In many ways, this built on The Bone Shard Daughter, following the same characters as their story wove on from the initial catalyst of the beginning, as they grew older and more comfortable in their roles and in relation to each other. But I also felt that The Bone Shard Emperor lost some of the whimsy of the first book, the aspect of discovering what this is about - and perhaps that is the curse of the middle book of a trilogy, there is less discovery and not yet time for payoff. But where BSD was focused on these characters figuring out how they fit into this web, on Mephi travelling with Jovi, BSE was far more politically intricate. And there, it felt too long to me. And that may be where I'm just not as much of an epic fantasy reader anymore as I used to be - it is too big in scale, too much concerned with building up so it can pay off in the concluding volume to be a truly satisfying read on its own. It was fun as a whole - I think I'd rate it 3.5/5 stars - but just not quite the same as the first book.

A strong sequel that continues to build on the foundations laid in the first book - definitely not a disappointment like a lot of follow ups are! It was great to see how the characters grew and evolved, and I can't wait to read the third one now!

4.5 stars

I'm embarrassed by how long it took my to get to this book. I'm so sorry!

This is the second book in this series and for some reason I thought it was the last? Maybe the sheer size of it made me think that but thankfully there is at least another book set in this amazing world.

It had been a while since I read The Bone Shard Daughter but I easily fell back into this world and I was happy to be back with these characters. I loved watching Lin and Jovis take on these new roles and how much they developed throughout.

My only issue was the size of this book. Whilst action packed I felt like some parts maybe weren't needed? Maybe that's just me? However that did not take away from how enjoyable this book was.

I cannot wait to read the next one and see where it takes our characters.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited to get a copy of this for review, after loving The Bone Shard Daughter, but somehow it took me a while to get to it. But I eventually picked it up and I am so glad I did.

I still adore Mephi, the little kleptomaniac :D He is a wonder. I also loved getting to see Lin in all her struggles as Empress, I think it shows quite a different side of her than we see in Daughter. Her interactions with Jovis were great too - the slow-building trust but also the secrets they both hold working against them.

In the first book, I remember liking Sand a reasonable amount, but in this book, as Nisong, I struggled with her. I sort of understand her anger and desire to protect, but she is DEFINITELY going about it all wrong and doesn't even try to talk it out. Her storyline is complex, and I'm intrigued as to what will happen next.

We also continued with Phalue and Ranami who provide some much-needed normality in this tale of empresses and war and sinking islands! They continue to be adorable and I am here for it. I want their friendship with Lin to develop in book 3 for sure.

Then we had the addition of the issues around the Alanga, which definitely intrigued me. Largely because of how it affects some of our characters. I am keen to find out what happens when the public knows more.

Overall I loved the battle and the politics, but there's a LOT going on in this book, and it's possibly trying to do a little too much. I sort of missed the bone magic (which is reduced for obvious reasons if you've read book 1) and the sparring of the main characters. They're all working on much bigger agendas here and while it works, there's a lot to take in and so many moving parts. The war has like four sides, and there's politics and sinking islands and OH MY. Still a great read and so well put together, but I'm docking it a star just for maybe trying to do too much. Perhaps I just prefer slightly simpler books lol! 4 stars.

Stewart has an incredible way of crawling inside my skin, and making a home for her stories there. I once again was blown away but the world building and the different interconnecting narratives. Stewart’s writing style is gorgeous, and I find myself almost haunted (in a good way) by her descriptions. This world is consuming my thoughts and I cannot wait for the conclusion.

Unfortunately, my love of this series started and finished with book 1. I really loved the first and was super excited to read this next instalment but unfortunately it just hasn’t hit my expectations.

I did like it, but it failed to continue that adoration the first book instilled in me.

The pacing was a bit off for me, which made it harder to read than the first. It just started and stayed really slow pace for the majority of the book, and I just needed a bit more umph.

I am disappointed I won’t lie, but hopefully book 3 renews my love.